Wrapping machine



June 16, 1931. A. M. ENGLISH 1,810,471

WRAPPING MACHINE Original Filed June 20, 1923 ssheets-sheet 1 June 16, 1931.

A. M. ENGLISH WRAPPING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Shet 2 Original Filed June 20, 1923 June 16, 1931. ENGLISH 1,810,471

WRAPPING MACHINE Original Filed June 20, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 anocwtoz aftoz up June 16, 1931. A. M. ENGLISH WRAPPING MACHINE 5 Sheefs-Sheet 4 Original Filed June 20, 1923 June 16, M31. A. M. ENGLISH 1,810,471

WRAPPING MACHINE Original Filed June 20, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented June 16, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ANALDOM. ENGLISH, F BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MEN'IS, TO PNEUMATIC SCALE CORPORATION, LIMITED, OF QUINCY, MASS'ACE'U- SETTS, A CORPORATION 033 MASSACHUSETTS J WRAPPING MACHINE Original application filed June 50, 1923, Serial No. 846,574. Divided and this application filed November 1,

1928. Serial No. 316,578.

The present invention relates to wrapping machines, this application being a division of the application of English, Serial No. 646,57 4, filed June 20, 1923.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine for wrapping measured amounts of loose material in individual bags or packages and more particularly to provide a mechanism for feeding and severing a predetermined length of wrapper for a machine of this general type.

To this end, the invention consists in the wrapping machine hereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying the features of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the Q wrapper forming device and wrapper feeding mechanism; Fig. 4 is'an elevation in section of 'the wrapper feeding and cutting mechanisms; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a portion of the wrapper feeding mechanism; Fig. 6 is a plan view of a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a detail view illustrating the operation of the wrapper feeding and cutting mechanism; and Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view showing the operation of the bag forming mechanism.

The inventiondescribed in the copending application above. referred to comprises a machine for wrapping predetermined amounts of tea to form tea bags for individual service. The wrapper consists of a fiat piece of cloth which is depressed to receive the charge of tea and thereafter bunched and tiedto form a bag or package. To the accomplishment of this end, the machine com rises, first, a measuring device, second, a delivering device into which the charges of tea are dumped from the measuring device and conveyed to the wrapper, third, a wrapper or bag forming mechanism over "which the wrapper is drawn and into which the delivering device extends to assist in the formation of the wrapper about the charge of tea, and fourth, a wrapper feeding and cutting mechanism by which predetermined lengths of wrapping material are drawn at regular intervals over the bag forming mechanism in position to be engaged by the delivering apparatus to receive the charge of material. The apparatus to be described herein comprises only the wrapper feeding and cutting mechanism. 55 The measuring, delivering, and bag forming mechanisms are completely described in the parent application and only so much of them as necessary to arrive at an understanding of-the wrapper feeding and cuttingmechanism will be described herein.

Referring to the drawings, the machine frame upright 30 which is secured to the base 31 carries a bracket 32 upon which is mounted the hopper 34 forming a part of the measuring mechanism. Rotatable within the hopper is a measuring disk 36, which is rotated step-by-step to discharge predetermined amounts of tea into a delivery tube 42. The intermittent rotation of the disk is accomplished by means of a ratchet connected therewith (not shown) which is engaged by a reciprocating pawl 47. The pawl is mounted on a link 48 connected through a block 50 with an arm 51 secured to a rock shaft52 which is journaled in the machine frame. The rock shaft is oscillated by a lever 53 carrying a cam roll 54, which is actuated by a cam groove 55 in a cam 56 secured to the main gear 57 of the machine. The gear 57 is rotated over a fixed stud 58 by a pinion 59 on the drive shaft 60.

The delivering mechanism by which the tea is carried from the measuring disk to the wrapper comprises the tube 42 and a tube or hollow plunger 106 which reciprocates telescopically over the stationary tube 42. The reciprocations of the plunger 106 are effected by means of a cam roll 118 engagin a cam groove 120 in the face of the gear 5 The movements of the tube 106 are such that the tube comes into engagement with the wrapper as the tea is being discharged from the measuring-disk. Further depression of the tube forms the bag shaped package in which the tea is retained. After removal of the tube by its upward movement, the bag is closed to form the desired package.

The bagforming mechanism comprises a rotatable turret 124 which carriesa plurality of wrapper clamping devices indicated generally at 126, 128, 130, and 132. These devices are in the form of intermeshing jaws and when opened in the position indicated at 126, are able to accommodate the tube 106 which passes downwardly therethrough. At this time a predetermined length of wrapper has been stretched over the device 126 so that upon the downward movement of the tube, the parts assume the positions indicated in Fig. 8, where the wrapper is indicated at 134 and the charge of tea which is passed through the tube at 136. Upon retraction of the tube,

the jaws of the clamping device are permitted to close upon the wrapper to form the bag shaped package. The turret is rotated one-quarter revolution at a time to carry the member 126 successivel through positions 128, 130, and 132, there eing provision for automatically opening the aws while passing from position 130 to 132 to allow the bag to be removed. The illustrated machine comprises four of the clamping members each one of which asses successively through the same cycle 0 movements.

The parts thus far referred to are described in detail in the copending application. The wrapper feeding and severing apparatus is shown in detail in Figs. 3,4, 5, and 6, and is described as follows: The roll of cloth or other wrapping material 228 is mounted in brackets 230. The cloth then passes over an idler roll 232 to a stationary cloth guiding and holding device indicated generally at 234. This guiding device conslsts of a thick upper plate 236 and a spring lower plate 238 connected at their ends by brackets 240. The lower plate bears against the forward end of the upper plate, due to its spring pressure. The forward end of each plate is provided with a series of projections 242 indicated in Fig. 3. The brackets 240 are mounted in a frame 244 which is adjustable longitudinally of the base 31 of the machine by a bolt and slot connection 246 of the usual construction. The vertical osition of the cloth guide 234 is adjustable y means of an eccentric 248 upon which the-upper. late 236 rests. The eccentric is pivoted to t e frame at 250 so that it may be manually rotated in an obvious manner to regulate the height ofthe guide 234. The cloth is presented by mined distance, whereupon a severing device cuts the cloth immediately in front of the guide234. The movable feeding device comprises a rock shaft 252 (Figs. 5 and 6) which is journaled in a sleeve 254 connected to an upright arm 256. The upri ht arm is attached at the top to a web 258 gsee Figs. 1 and 2) the web being provided with projections 260 pivoted upon studs 262 secured in the frame of the machine. One of the projections 260 carries an upright arm 264 by which the oscillating motion is 1m arted to the feeding device from the cam 56by means presently to be described. The shaft 252 carries two cloth gripping members 266 (Fig. 3) which pass on opposite sides of the tube 106. Each gripping-member comprises a pair of collars 268 pinned at the end of the shaft 252 at 270 and connected together by a web 272. Top and bottom spring gripper plates 274 and 276 are riveted to the web at 278. The rear end of each gripper plate is provided with a series of projections 280 which are adapted to pass betweenthe projections 242 of the stationary guide member when the movable member is in its rearward position. The upper gripper plate 274 is provided with a series of pins 282. When the movable feedin member has moved to its utmost rearwar position the gripper plates 274 and 276 are caused to spring together, thereby catching the end per may be formed by the descent of the tu 106 into the clamping member 126. In order to accomplish these results the gripper plate 274 is provided with rectangular openings 284 immediately forward of the spaces between the projections 280. A sliding cam device 286 lies 1n each opening, the construction of the cam device being such that when it is moved rearwardly it will engage the rearward ends of the openings 284 and spread the gripper plates apart. To this end the cam device has an inclined'rear surface 288. Each cam device is provided with a rearwardly extending tongue 290 which is adapted to be struck by one of the projections 242 on the stationary guide member to push the cam device forwardly into the slot and allow the gripper members to close and engage the cloth when the feeding member is completing its rearward motion. The cam devices 286 are attached top. late 289 which has a stem 291 curved upwar 1y through an openin 292 in the upper gripper plate. The end 0 the stem 291 lies in the space between the collar .268; In order to open the gripper lates, a

ring 294 is provided which is rotata is over the shaft 252 between the collars and which has a shoulder 296 engagin the end of the stem 291. Each ring 294 %there being one ring between each pair of collars 268 at the ends of the shaft 252) has a notch 297 in its preiphery which is engaged at the limit of the forward movement of the grlppmg members by a pawl 298 pivoted at 299-at the end of a block 300 carried by a stationary bifurcated arm 301 which is pivotally supported upon the studs 262. The block 300 is pro- 11 a shoulder 302 beneath which the pawl arm is free to turn, and a compression spring 303 is provided between the pawl and the shoulder to urge the pawl upward toward the notch in the ring. A face plate 304 secured to the shoulder 302 covers the pawl arm. The bifurcated arm 301 is rigidly secured at its lower end by a yoke 305 secured at the top of the turret shaft and adjustably attached to the block 300 by a hand screw 306. It will be seen that as the cloth gripping members start their rearward movement, the engagement of the pawls 1n the notches 297 causes the rings 294 to rotate in a clockwise direction, thereby pushing on the tongues 290 to cause the cam devices to open the gripper plates and release the cloth. The top gripper plate has riveted to 1t a spring stripper finger 307 which clears the pins 282 of the cloth when the upper and lower plates are separated. Upon the forward motion of the feeding device, the gripper members are maintained depressed by means of a stationary guide plate 308 secured to the machine frame, under which rides an arm 309 which is attached to one of the gripping members, the arm 309 being urged upwardly against the guide plate by means of a torsion spring 310 encircling the sleeve 252 and taking between the arm 256 and the lower grlpper plate 276. This causes the cloth tobe drawn from the stationary guide 234 in a horizontal direction so that the cloth will lie flat directly above the clamping device 126.

It will be understood that according to the terminology used above, the front part of the machine is at the turret end and the rear of the machine is at the cloth roll so that a motion of the feeding device to the right, as viewed in Fig. 5, is considered a rearward motion, whereas a motionto the left is considered a forward motion.

The cloth feeding devices are actuated through the motions of the lever 53, which,

as above described, are also utilized to rotate the measuring disk and the turret. The lever 53 carries a block 312 which is connected by a link 313 with a second block 314 pivotally mounted upon an arm 315 which is pivoted upon a bracket 316 extending outwardly from the machine frame. The arm 315 carries a cam segment 317 having a cam groove 318 in which a cam roll 319 is received. The cam roll 319 is mounted upon the upper end of y the cam roll 54, the

the cloth feeding members. It will be seen that a counter clockwise movement of the arm 315 about its pivot on the bracket 316 causes a forward movement of the cloth feedin devices, whereas a clockwise movement 0 the arm causes a rearward movement of the feeding devices. In order to permit adjustment of the amount of oscillation of the feeding members, the cam segment 317 is pivoted to the arm 315 at 320 and the segment is rigidly held in any desired position on the arm by means of a wing nut 321 which is used to clamp the segment against the arm. It will be seen that since the pivot of the cam segment upon the arm 315 is approximately at the center of the path of the cam roll, the

adjustment of the feeding devices will be taken up equally at bothends of the motion of the feeding devices, for example, an adj ustment such as to give an increase of ten degrees in the oscillation of the arm 256 will allow the arm 256 to move forwardly an additional five degrees and also to move rearwardly an additional five degrees.

The cloth severing devices are mounted entirely upon the adjustable frame 244 and consist of a stationary knife 324 and a movable knife 325. The stationary knife 324 is supported upon dowel pins 326 and screws 327 passing through a web 328 which extends across the frame 244. A spring 329 encircling the screw 327 and bearing between the web and a wing nut 330 provides a yielding and adjustable mounting for the knife. The stationary knife is of the shape illustrated in Fig. 2, being slightly convex toward the rear of the machine and having the center of the cutting surface somewhat higher than the ends to permit positive shearing of the cloth. The cutting edge of the knife is disposed immediately forward of the end of stationary cloth guide 234. The movable knife 325 is adjustable under a block 334 secured to an arm 336 pivoted at 338 upon the frame 244. The arm 336 is normally held downwardly by a spring 340. Referring to Fig. 2, the movable knife is actuated by a bell crank lever having an upper arm 342 carrying a cam roll 344 which bears against the periphery of the cam 56. The lower arm 348 of the bell crank carries a pad 350 upon which rests the end of the movable knife arm 336. When the rise 352 of the cam strikes the roll 344 the movable knife is lifted, thereby severing the cloth against the stationary knife. The movable knife carries the cloth guide 234 along with it, the latter being free to rotate about its pivoted connection 338 on the frame.

The actuation of the cloth severing device takes place at the start of the rearward movement of the cloth feeding mechanism, just as the movable gripper lates are being separated to release the clotii.

The timing of the various'motions will now be described. When the tube 106 is at its uppermost position and is ready to descend the cloth which is indicated at 134 has been drawn to the limit of its forward movement by the cloth gripper members 266, the center of the cloth lying directly under the tube 106 and above the clamping device 126. The tube 106 now begins its downward movement and as it comes into engagement with the cloth, the gripper members 266 start their rearward movement, thereby releasing the cloth as previously described. The cloth cutting mechanism is actuated at this time to sever the cloth immediately in front of the stationary cloth guide. It will be seen that the cloth is always positively held in position, either by the cloth feeding devices or by the engagement of the tube 106 with the cloth. The cloth is not released by the feeding device until it has been securely engaged between the tube 106 and the clamping member 126. The tube continues its downward movement to the position indicated in Fig. 8 during which time the measuring disk of the hopper is rotated to dump one of the measured charges of tea through the delivery tube into the wrapper. The movement of the tube depresses the cloth into the clamping jaws and bunches the edges of the wrapper around the tube. When the tube is at the limit of its downward movement, the cloth feeding member has completed its rearward motion and is now in position to engage the cloth preparatory to another feeding operation, as indicated in Fig. 3. The tube is now retracted, thereby, permitting the jaws to close about the top of the wrapper to form the bag shaped package. The turret is then automatically advanced one-quarter of a revolution as described in the parent application to carry the clamping member from position 126 to 128, thereby advancing a new clamping device into the position 126. Meanwhile, the cloth gripper members 266 have undergone their forward movement which is permitted as soon as the tube 106 is withdrawn from the clamping device. Another wrapping operation may now be performed in the same cycle of movements after which the turret is advanced another quarter revolution. When the turret has advanced to carry a bag of tea to the position 130, the bag may be tied and in the advance from position 130 to position 132, the bag is released.

It will be observed that all the parts may be adjusted to permit packaging of any desired amount of material. If it becomes necessary to change the size of wrapper, the amount ofoscillation of the cloth feeding device may be adjusted as previously described by rotatinglthe cam segment 317. It

is desirable that t e center 0 the wrapper when drawn completely forward should lie directly above the center of the clamping jaws. This is automatically taken care of by the fact that the rotation of the cam segment 317 takes up one-half of the adjustment at each end 0 the movement of the feeding member. v However, an adjustment of the feeding member necessitates a change in the position of the stationary arm 301 and also in-the position of the stationary cloth guide 234. The former adjustment is carried out by means of the hand screw 306, it being necessary only to move the arm 301 so that the pawl 298 engages the ring 294 when the cloth feeding member is placed at its forwardmost position. The feeding member may then be moved to its rearward limit and the frame 244 which carries the stationary uide moved forwardly until it engages the feeding member.

While it is preferred to employ the specific construction and arrangement of parts shown and described, it will be understood that this construction and arrangement is not essential except so far as specified in the claims and may be changed or modified without departing from the broader features of the invention.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A wrapping machine having, in combination, a movable wrapper feeding device having a pair of cloth gripper plates, a cam device between the plates adapted to open and close the plates for releasing and engaging the wrapper, a stationary wrapper guide for presenting wrapping material to the feeding device, means on the stationary guide for engaging the cam device to close the gripper plates when the feeding device is moved toward the stationary guide, a stationary pawl which is engaged by the feeding device at the limit of its feeding movement, and connections between the pawl and the cam device for actuating the latter to open the plates as the feeding device starts its movement in the reverse direction.

2. A wrapping machine having, in combination, a stationary wrapper guide, a wrapper feeding device, means for moving the wrapper feeding device to engage the wrapper presented by the stationary guide and draw it into position, and means for adjusting the movement of the feeding device having provision for making equal adjustments at both ends of such movement.

3. A wrapping machine having, in combination, a cloth roll support, a stationary wrapper guide through which the cloth from the cloth roll passes, a wrapper feeding member adapted to engage the cloth presented by the stationary guide and draw it into position, an arm upon which the wrapper feeding member is mounted, a cam roll on the arm, a cam segment having a groove in which the cam roll is received, an oscillating arm to which the cam segment is pivoted at approximately the center of the cam groove, and means permitting adjustment of the segment about its pivot whereby equal adjustments are made at both ends of the movement of the feeding device.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ANALDO M. ENGLISH. 

